blacklivesmatter

Before you think I have lost my marbles with this post, please read to the end. I say that with some humor. They call me Wired. That is my road name. There are several reasons for that, but it is very fitting. I am wound up pretty tight about beliefs and ideas I hold, and tend to be over zealous and passionate about what I stand for. In my past life, going to blows was easy and exciting; violence was justified by cause. Do not misunderstand me, there are quite a number of individuals today I would love to give a good pop in the nose. But there is another way. Love your enemy, and do good to those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44).

Jesus said, “I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27) With all the current events going on in today’s world, it is hard to find that peace. Fear, anxiety, hate, racism, and murder seem to run rampant as you watch the news every day. Most find it so depressing they give up trying to keep up with it.

Where do you turn for peace and comfort?

Personally speaking, I turn to my bike. I mount up, hammer down on the throttle, make those pipes scream as I listen to the wind blasting against my ears, and I pray. Sometimes I scream. Ultimately, I cast my fears and anxieties of the world around me on God.

Who are we suppose to love?

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again.One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question:“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

~ Matthew 22:34-40

Think about those verses for a moment. No this is not a message of “lets all love each other and get along and sing kumbaya around the campfire.” This is a message of hope, and peace. You can believe something I completely disagree with, yet I can still love you as my neighbor. You can be an ISIS member, a murderer, a racist, and whatever else you want to lump in there that I disagree with; yet I can still love you. It is hard? Yes, very.

I believe in a very simple saying: be the change you wish to see in the world around you.

If I choose to love you, I can hold no malice toward you. That does not mean I support you. It means I am called to view you as a human being that is loved in the eyes of God. THAT is what the world around us needs to do. That is what I need to do.